Few gemstones have the fiery brilliance of Citrine. Colors of bright yellows, oranges, golden ambers, and even rich cognac all fit this remarkable quartz. The name comes from the French word â€œcitronâ€ for lemon and the Latin â€œcitrinaâ€ for yellow. Much more than lemon, tones of Citrine can be stunningly sunny to cloudy, pale bone-beige or brown. Some Citrines are actually amethyst or smoky quartz, also in the same gemstone family, that have been heated to turn from purple or smoke colored to yellow. Most of these heat-treated Citrines have a reddish cast to them. Luster is good in clear stones and translucent to waxy in more heavily white-veined stones.

Citrine gets its festive color from iron deposits in the silicate mineral composition. The six-sided prism make-up of this crystal lends a deep shine that faceting shows off to its fullest. Mirror-like in its numerous bright shades, this cheery quartz goes well with other fruit-colored gemstones in blues, greens, reds, and oranges. It is also suited to white and black stones and can be faceted, polished into cabochons, or made into beads. Good cuts for Citrine are round, oval, teardrop, princess, and rectangle. Cloudier color stones are often made into cabochons with mirrored backings to reflect more light through the dome surface.

With the unaided eye it is impossible to tell Citrine apart from yellow topaz. Citrine is sometimes seen in the same stone with amethyst in quartz that has been heated to change the amethyst from violet to yellow. These are generally novelty items used in gemstone collections. When this occurs naturally it results in the gemstone called ametrine, most of which comes from Bolivian mines. Colors in this two-tone stone are generally not as vibrant as pure colored amethysts or Citrines. Most natural Citrines are from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.